Lisa Jensen, a psychology teacher and coach at
Herriman High School, was nominated for the National Life Group’s LifeChanger
of the Year award. While there are more than 700 nominees, Jensen’s students
said they’re convinced she should win.

“If they don’t pick her, they picked the wrong
person,” said Abbie Champman, a senior who’s worked with Jensen through the school’s
bullying prevention club called CURE.

“I literally don’t know anyone more perfect for
this nomination,” said Christensen, who has taken Jensen’s classes for the past
two years. “She is the most influential person I have ever met.”

The LifeChanger winners will be announced in spring
2017 after a selection committee reviews all nominations.

Jensen, who has been lovingly dubbed “Co-J” by
her students, is known for her packed schedule and big heart, according to the
school’s media center specialist Crystal Hansen, who nominated Jensen for the
award. When she’s not running between meetings with the CURE, prepping for
psychology classes or leading girls volleyball or basketball practice, Jensen
can be found talking one-on-one with her students, building relationships,
Hansen said.

Last year, Christensen was struggling to find
motivation to continue with school when Jensen challenged her to get her
diploma and have more confidence in herself. The senior is now planning to
graduate with the rest of her class in June.

“I had a lot of self-esteem issues, and she
helped me see the good qualities that she saw in me,” Christensen said. “Even
in the last year, her help has been completely life-changing. She’s helped give
me a new motivation, a new confidence and a new love for life and everyone in
it.”

Jensen describes herself as a “blunt,”
“sarcastic” and “bold,” as a coach, but her players said they don’t see her
that way.

Maddie Garrett, a senior volleyball player said
she wanted to play college ball but wasn’t at the skill level she needed. With
tips from Jensen, she upped her game and signed with Utah State University
Eastern for fall 2017.

“She’ll always tell you what’s good about what
you are doing, and then she will tell you what to fix,” said Emily Stanford, a
junior who plays on Herriman’s volleyball and basketball teams. “She’ll just
make it all positive instead of saying, ‘You suck you need to fix this.’”

Last year, the basketball team lost one of
their friends and players when Cadee Conner was killed in a car crash on
Mountain View Corridor. Jensen was a major support to the team by comparing the
experience to when she lost her brother, several players said.

“It was good just to look at her and think, OK,
how can someone who lost their brother—someone so close to them—come out like
that?,” Stanford said. “I’ve looked at her as a role model, and I know I am
going to come out of it because she did.”

Jensen said she’s humbled that she’s been able
to help these girls become self-aware in school, sports and life. Though at the
beginning of her college experience Jensen was opposed to the idea of becoming
a teacher, she said it’s now hard to imagine her life any other way.

“I actually wanted to go into like
fire-fighting, maybe even potential coast-guard stuff,” Jensen said. “I just
wanted to do something big and bold and exhilarating and life-changing, and I
never thought being a teacher would be how I would do that.”

Mid-degree, Jensen began talking with her
academic adviser about alternative career options. She decided to coach, but
her adviser notified her that she’d need to teach something. Upon finding out
that she could teach psychology in high schools, Jensen said she was sold on
the idea.

Jensen said it was “overwhelming” to think of
the impact she must have had on students because they were willing to talk with
the South Valley Journal and comment on her LifeChanger nominee page.

“By far, teaching has been the most rewarding
thing I could have ever chosen—much more than I was to get out of those
other careers,” she said.